


That's the Tea

by BlackCherrySeltzer



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: No Beta, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), ashen wolves, no beta we die like Glenn, silly little fic based off a flashback made in my other fic, they are all dumb but i love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28454172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackCherrySeltzer/pseuds/BlackCherrySeltzer
Summary: Prepare yourself to be amazed by the unmatched talents of Fódlan's number one magical prodigy! Constance uses her magical talents to create a new spell that will put the Nuvelle name down in history. Or... at least leave her mark in the Shadow Library.AKA - The reason why Constance was banned from practicing magic in the library.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	That's the Tea

“Hapi!! Wake up! I just had an ingenious idea!!” Constance yelled to her fiery-haired friend from her desk.

“Mmm…Coco, are you still awake? It’s past midnight…” Hapi yawned, annoyed at the rude awakening.

“Of course! You see, the world is in dire need of support, so I must utilize my unparalleled talents to help those in need. I can’t just idly waste time resting when my magical ingenuity is needed right now!

“Mm-hmm sure, Coco. You work on that. I’m gonna go back to sleep.”

“Wait! You didn’t even hear my idea yet!” 

Hapi sat up in bed and grumbled, “Fine, since you won’t let it go. What is it?”

“Prepare yourself for this, Hapi! During my youth at House Nuvelle, I knew many a noble who’s busy schedules were nonstop, running from one round table conference to the next. Where duty summoned them, they had to drop everything and attend to it at once! I’ve even noticed that same frantic work ethic amongst the knights of the church as well. Always running at the beck and call of Lady Rhea. People all over Fódlan run from meetings here and there, day in and day out…” Constance prattled on.

“Uh-huh… Is this going anywhere, Coco? I also have some real important matters to attend to at the meeting of my head to my pillow.” Hapi yawned, preparing to lie down again.

“I’m getting there!” Constance said impatiently. “Ahem! So where was I? Oh right, so it dawned on me, if these poor nobles and knights get called upon at a moments notice, surely it must be a pain when enjoying their tea!”

“Uhh… their tea?” Hapi said perplexed.

“That’s right! Why even the other day I saw Alois trying to have some tea with the professor when Seteth called him to attend to some urgent matters. He had to leave his freshly brewed Crescent-Moon tea to just sit there and get cold! How terrible it must be to come back from such strenuous matters only to be greeted by a lukewarm cup of tea.”

“So your ‘world saving’ magical idea is…?” 

“I have devised the perfect spell! By combining my fire spell with the incantation I found in this book, my charm will never leave a cup of tea cold! The spell is cast upon any simple tea cup and just like that, any time the tea starts to drop in temperature the spell will activate and keep it warm! With this, I will surely become a legendary sorceress that all will talk about for years to come! I amaze even myself sometimes!” She could barely contain her laugh of excitement. “So what do you think, Hapi? Surely this will make waves across the busy lives of the nobility, don’t you think? The Nuvelle name will be spread across the land in no time!”

“It’s just…tea?”

“It’s not _just_ tea! You’re missing the point! Well, I do suppose you’ve never lived a life where you had to worry about such a thing. How lucky for you, Hapi, but the rest of the world still lives on with this crisis and I’ve found the solution to it!”

Constance started gathering her tea supplies to brew a pot at her desk.

“Oh no. You’re not testing this here right now are you?” Hapi objected.

“Well of course, no time like the present, hm?”

“Coco, as much as I’d like to be a part of this ‘historic’ moment, maybe our room isn’t the best test lab to use?”

“Oh, you do have a point. These desks are far too small for me to use as a lab table. Besides, I need to fetch some water anyway.” Constance gathered her tea pot and books and got up from her desk. “Well, if you want to see history be made, I will be in the Shadow Library!” She announced with her exit.

“If you can create a plate that makes pastries appear on demand, I’ll join you then!” Hapi yelled back to her and promptly curled up with her pillow, falling back to sleep.

***

Constance marched down the Abyssian corridors towards the Shadow Library when she nearly crashed into a large figure turning the corner at the same time.

“Hey pal, what are you up to this late at night? Oh, is it tea time?” Balthus commented noticing the porcelain pot Constance held in her hands.

“Balthus, my dear friend, I’m about to create history! I am in quite a rush to the library though so if you don’t mind moving out of the way, please?” Constance said pushing him slightly.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, now! History? Now I’m really interested in what you’re scheming in that little blonde head of yours. You think there’s any gold in this to be made?” 

“Oh Balthus, there will be riches beyond my wildest dreams after tonight!” Constance giggled to herself. "You see, I’ve concocted a way to keep tea indefinitely warm! Gone will be the days of losing out on a nice cup of tea to bland, temperate waters! Ahaha!” She was already imagining the restoration of her house and designing a new family emblem around the cup of tea that will put her name in history.

While Balthus didn’t quite follow her plan, he _did_ just come back from losing out on several hundred gold bullions during a late-night round of gambling. Any word of money to him sounded like a good idea right now. “Is that so, well, it looks like you could use a little help from the King of Grappling himself. Did I ever mention to you that I’m great at making a perfectly steeped cup of tea? Not too weak, not too strong. Perfect every time.” Balthus prided. 

“Maybe I could use an assistant for this…” Constance pondered for a moment. “I’ve decided. I will give you the wonderful opportunity to aid me in this discovery! Now come, there’s no time to waste!”

They made their way to the empty Shadow Library and settled on one of the long wooden tables in the back. Constance set up her tea set and books to follow along with the incantation she wrote.

“All I need is water. Dear assistant, do you mind fetching that for me?” Constance directed Balthus.

“Sure thing, lady-boss!” He went out and quickly returned with fresh water.

“That’s everything then!” Constance cheered. “Now let me place everything just so…” She made sure everything was arranged in a particular order on the desk. She then placed her hand above the delicate tea cup and chanted her newly devised incantation on it. The cup appeared to be glowing now, but other than that, not much else happened. She brewed up a cup of her favorite Sweet-Apple blend and poured it into the enchanted cup.

“Looks great!” Balthus chimed in happily. “Now what?”

“We must wait for the tea to cool! Once it starts dropping in temperature the charm will kick in!”

They stood there staring at the cup, Constance still grinning wide with a proud smile, but Balthus had become a little uncertain.

“Well, this is a little anticlimactic…” He frowned.

“You just need to have a little patience, Balthus!” 

Suddenly, the cup started to tremble in front of them, “There! You see! The tea must be cooling off, get ready to make history!” Constance squealed.

The shaking stopped abruptly and both of them stared in confusion at the cup. Without any notice, the entire table started shaking and burst into flames. Balthus back-peddled from the sudden explosion and tripped over the desk behind him. The back of his head crashed into the bookshelf near the desk and promptly knocked him out.

Constance didn’t realize that her newly minted assistant was knocked out cold and continued to talk to him trying to calm the situation. “Don’t worry, don’t worry! There has to be a way to recover this still! Oh I see, the spell must have took to the table, not the cup! See Balthus, my tea set is barely touched by the flames! Now just to reverse it…” She said composing herself to evaluate the issue with her spell.

Outside the library, Yuri was walking down the hall after bidding a goodnight to his gang and turning in for the evening. As he walked, his nose was suddenly greeted by the smell of smoke. Looking up, he saw thick billowing clouds coming from the Shadow Library. He bolted down the hall and opened the doors to be greeted by the scene of Balthus passed out on the ground, a desk consumed by flames and spreading to the one next to it, and Constance standing in front of all this chaos flipping through a book like nothing was happening.

Constance perked up seeming to find an answer in her book. “Oh I see! So this marking should go here and hmm…”

“Constance! What the hell?! There’s a fire behind you!” Yuri said hysterically running over to pull her away from the growing flames.

“Yuri, let go of me! I’m experimenting with a new idea! Will you please let me work in peace?”

“Are you insane?! You’re setting the entire library on fire! Put this out now!” He tugged her away to a safer distance.

“But all I simply need to do is change one aspect of my spell and it should work. Look, see!” She waved her hand and cast a different incantation towards the flaming table. The fire roared and a large fireball hurdled toward them. Yuri picked Constance up and jumped out of the way dodging the attack and getting them to safety.

“Oh no, that’s not quite right…” Constance frowned. The fire ball landed on another desk which promptly lit up in flames.

“Wait! I understand now! I should use that other sigil then!” Constance said cheerfully while flames engulfed their surroundings. She moved towards the flames to start another spell, but Yuri frantically interrupted, grabbing her from behind to stop her from adding to the chaos.

“Constance! Don’t walk into the fire! And stop trying to use those spells!” Yuri begged, holding her back. “Why would you experiment with fire in a place that’s literally made out of tinder?!” 

“Put me down!!” Constance yelled trying to free herself from Yuri. “I got it this time, I know it!” In Constance’s squabble trying to free herself from Yuri, the pair got a little too close to the flames and Yuri’s uniform cape caught fire. He promptly let go of her to deal with the flames spreading on his clothes. He quickly used a wind spell to put out the flames on his cape. While it stopped them from spreading on himself, a residual gust of wind picked up the fire from the table next to them. He watched in a panic as his mistake carried flames over to the wooden ladder near the books. In an instance, the precious literature near the ladder started to catch fire.

“Dammit! Constance! Just clear out your spell and all of this will stop!” He yelled to her as he ran over trying to pat out the embers catching on the books.

“I got it this time now!” She once again created another formation towards the tea set and with this last charm, the flames extinguished themselves. The tea cup quivered for a moment, and then began to shimmer in a low golden light.

Yuri walked over to Constance’s side with an utter look of disbelief at the current state of the library. He stared at the mess and then looked down at her, mouth agape in shock. “Constance, _friend_ , what exactly were you trying to achieve with all of this?” Yuri said attempting to keep his voice even as annoyance grew within him.

“I’m glad you asked! As you can see, I’ve created a spell that will keep tea indefinitely warm! Although, it did take me a few tries… But not even the best magicians get new spells right on the first pass! I’m positive that last charm I crafted is the one to use! Though, let me test out one last thing…”

Yuri placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from going over to the table. He sighed heavily, “No… you will not be using anymore spells tonight.” He waved his other hand and cast a silence spell over her. She huffed looking up at him and made an indignant noise. The doors opened suddenly and Yuri and Constance looked over surprised to see Hapi walk in.

“Whoa, what happened here?” Hapi commented entering the library. “Oh, the tea.” 

She crossed the room, stepped over Balthus who was still passed out on the ground, and picked up the cup of tea sitting on the table. She took a sip and her eyes widened, “Huh, you really did manage to keep it warm. Nice going, Coco.” Constance smiled smugly towards Yuri and he just sighed.

“Anyway, I just wanted to see how your work was going. I’m going back to bed now. Oh, and maybe you guys should wake up B? That’s a funny place to take a nap, but his back is gonna hurt like hell in the morning,” she said, tone flat is ever. She crossed the room, careful not to step on Balthus again, and left.

Constance and Yuri stared at the library. Three of the desks were completely destroyed from the embers and ash littered the ground. Part of the ladder’s railing that was consumed by the flames finally gave way and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Balthus stirred for a second from the noise, but still remained collapsed.

“Now that I know my spell works, I suppose this concludes my research for the evening.” Constance walked over and gathered her tea set. “Thank you ever so much for taking care of Balthus and cleaning up the library, Yuri! I’ll be sure to add you in the footnotes of my spell when I present it for publication! Goodnight!” Constance said making a quick exit.

Yuri stood there dumbfounded and sighed at the fact that Constance managed to get out of cleaning up her mess. “Ugh… Better clean this up before sunrise…”

**Author's Note:**

> The Ashen Wolves have one (1) brain cell and it's stored in the Yuri.


End file.
